Controlled Chaos - Alamo Derby Standings

With a fourth event victory of the season Darryl Lozier increases his lead at the top of the standings from just six points to twenty-eight. Will Thompson, Joe Ramage and Scott Hutchins remain second, third and fourth respectively as they all missed the final in San Antonio, but runner-up Tom Gariepy, the only driver in the top twenty-six who hasn't won a heat, moves into the top five.

Name	Pts	Derby Wins	Heat Wins
Darryl Lozier	155.5	4	4
Will Thompson	127.5	1	3
Joe Ramage	121	2	1
Scott Hutchens	113	1	3
Tom Gariepy	105.5	2
Norm Gibson	98.5	2	1
Andy Bing	96	2	3
Jamie Eilers	96	2	2
Will Murphy	94		2
Ben Hadsell	83.5	1	4
Leo May	70		3
Chris Henton	69	1	1
Steven Redden	57.5		1
Darrell Andresen	52		6
Lynne Higgins	50		2
Rob Remaley	45.5		2
Ricky Grimes	44	1	2
John McCrory	42.8		1
Matt Welliver	31.5	1	2
Danny Krol	31		3
Jess Yates	30		2
John Ruiz	29	1	2
Randy Corson	28		2
Bobby Gallagher	27		2
Dick Garrett	27		1
Don Davis	25		2
Sam Harbin	25
Bob Alexander	22		2
Randy Tondreau	22		1
Jason Ingle	20.5		2
Reggie Banks	20	1
Charlie Clayton	20		1
Timmy Barnes	11		1
Philip Ruffin	5
Bambi Rogers	5
Kenny Rose	2		1
Ed Smith	2		1
Billy Edgington	2
Tommy Miller	0

Controlled Chaos - Alamo Derby Final

Alamo Derby - San Antonio, TX
Final
Charlie Clayton, Bob Alexander, Darrell Andresen, Randy Tondreau, Randy Corson, Danny Krol, Will Murphy, Jess Yates, Darryl Lozier, Tom Gariepy, Reggie Banks, Chris Henton

Bob Alexander's (6th Arizona Derby, 3rd Lobster Nationals, 9th Texas Nationals) sixth final ends as his fifth did: pointless. Clayton, Andresen, and Murphy all struck him off the start for a quick exit before Reggie Banks (1st Firecracker Open) was also eliminated by three hits. Andresen again part of the reson, this time along with Yates and Gariepy.

After his third heat victory of the season, Danny Krol (8th Ides of March, 4th Jersey Derby, 3rd Summer Sizzler) finishes tenth for the second time in seven rounds, a revenge hit on his blindside by Murphy going a long way to knocking him out, and Charlie Clayton (7th Frostbite, 5th Texas, 8th Louisiana Invitational) stops dead after striking both Amdresen and Lozier.

After qualifying for six of seventeen finals, Darrell Andresen (4th Indy Nationals, 5th Firecracker, 5th Arkansas Derby) ends his fifth in a row with a fourth points haul in as many weeks. Stalling after delivering a blindside hit to Corson, his demise came courtesy of Chris Henton while he was prone.

It's five top ten finishes in six finals for Randy Tondreau (6th Tampa Open, 3rd Firecracker), Henton's early barrage a strong reason he was out after dishing out five hits on as many opponents, and Randy Corson's (5th Frostbite, 5th Tampa, 8th Spring Fling Derby) second final in fourteen weeks sees him just finish outside of the top five again. A revenge hit by Andresen caught Corson by surprise, throwing him off his target and careening him into the wall where Will Murphy came and crushed him.

Will Murphy's (2nd Tampa, 3rd Spring Fling, 3rd Idaho Invitational, 3rd Big Apple Smash Up) impressive record of finishing no lower than sixth continues into his tenth final appearance with an eighth top five place, and it was all the more impressive after taking fifteen hits through the second heat and consolation heats combined. Six hits struck him throughout his seven minutes of action in the final, Gariepy with two and Henton the finisher, as he delivered five shots of his own to a different opponent each time.

Back-to-back fourth place finishes, and a three week points streak that started with a runner-up position in the Arkansas Derby, keepss Spring Fling Derby winner Chris Henton's confidence up. With Darryl Lozier hitting him thrice there was no rest as Jess Yates followed up with three shots of his own, but it was Tom Gariepy who, after blindsiding him earlier, brought the finishing blow.

Jess Yates (8th Arizona, 7th Jersey, 4th Summer Sizzler) may have only appeared in four finals, but he has improved his final position each time as he reaches the podium for the first time this season. Taking only hits throughout the final, Yates forced his way through the pack indiscriminately hitting four different drivers before settling on Henton for the hat-trick, but ending his own chances of a better finish on the last shot as he continued to slow down afterwards until coming to a complete stop.

A second runner-up place of the year, and the fifth driver this year to break the one-hundred points barrier, Tom Gariepy (1st Wisconsin Invitational, 1st Arkansas Derby) started his second final in three rounds in the worst possible way by missing his intended target and plowing into the wall. He recovered well, hitting Murphy either side of his initial surprise hit on Henton, before going at Darryl Lozier who had taken it upon himself to rough-house his opponent.

That assault of three hits, with his three shots on Henton beforehand, earns Darryl Lozier his fourth title of the season, and his first in eleven events, to take a twenty-eight point lead over Will Thompson who was absent from his second final in three weeks after being eliminated early in the consolation heat. Lozier, who controversially avoided disqualification in heat two, looked well prepared for his seventeenth final, and was on form as he avoided a lot of traffic only taking five hits compared to the seven he delivered. A rare miss almost totaled his car and if he was unable to continue from that point would have finished dead last.

Race Result
1. Darryl Lozier
2. Tom Gariepy
3. Jess Yates
4. Chris Henton
5. Will Murphy
6. Randy Corson
7. Randy Tondreau
8. Darrell Andresen
9. Charlie Clayton
10. Danny Krol
11. Reggie Banks
12. Bob Alexander

Controlled Chaos - Alamo Derby, Consolation Heat

Alamo Derby - San Antonio, TX
Consolation Heat
Tom Gariepy, Will Thompson, Jess Yates, Phillip Ruffin, Ben Hadsell, Will Murphy, Andy Bing, John McCrory, Ricky Grimes, Scott Hutchins, Tommy Miller, Sam Harbin

Thirteenth in his final debut last week, Tommy Miller is quickly out of the consolation heat this time around as the start is delayed to examine his battery mount where officials declared it improperly fitted and he was removed from the field.

Sixteen-time finalist Will Thompson (2nd Summer Sizzler, 2nd Bryan Family Open) did get away at the start but did not last a minute as John McCrory went up and over the Arizona Derby winner, and Scott Hutchins (1st Seattle Derby, 2nd Big Apple Smash Up, 2nd Lobster Nationals) has just two finals in the last eight rounds, both third place finishes, as Ruffin, McCrory and Grimes converge on him for the fifth, sixth and seventh hits on Hutchins in the opening three minutes.

Sam Harbin (2nd Arizona, 6th Spring Fling Derby, 6th SidelineStrategy.com Derby) suffered little interference but the blindside hit by Gariepy pushed him towards Andy Bing and Grimes to knock him out in ninth, and then the Louisiana Invitiational winner Ricky Grimes (3rd Jersey Derby, 3rd Texas Nationals) was cleaned out by McCrory after a hit from Jess Yates did a lot of damage.

After blindsided Thompson in retaliation for a hit, Phillip Ruffin (9th Ides of March, 8th Smash Up) also suffered the wrath of Yates as he was twice a victim for his opponent before ten-time finalist Ben Hadsell (1st Frostbite Winter Nationals, tied-2nd Summer National Derby, 2nd Texas) lost a war with John McCrory, finishing in sixth position.

 Andy Bing, winner of both the Idaho Invitational and Indy Nationals, only delivered five hits in eight minutes but his final shot resulted in a disqualification as he clearly struck the driver's side door of Will Murphy, denying him a thirteenth final appearance this season.

The final elimination was that of John McCrory who, after barely avoiding a devastating hit in heat one, went up and over Will Thompson at the start of the consolation heat as part of his six hits on five vehicles. Twice he attacked Hadsell in a real battle between the two of them but his end came sandwiched between Gariepy and Murphy.

Tom Gariepy now has seven finals to his name but two event wins and just one finish outside of the top five (11th Indy) sees him heading into the final in San Antonio looking to improve on his eighth position in the standings. Starting on Sam Harbin with two hits Gariepy would miss another target, and miss badly, to damage his car badly enough that he relied on a lot of luck to get as far as he did, but he only took three hits all heat.

Jess Yates reaches his first final in eight rounds and this will be just his fourth appearance all season, taking four hits while laying a pair on both Hadsell and Ruffin, and Will Murphy makes it ten finals on the year, matching Yates with a heat-high of seven hits delivered. Murphy is in just his second final in ten weeks after qualifying for eight out of the first twelve.

Race Result
Q. Tom Gariepy
Q. Jess yates
Q. Will Murphy
4. John McCrory
5. Andy Bing
6. Ben Hadsell
7. Phillip Ruffin
8. Ricky Grimes
9. Sam Harbin
10. Scott Hutchins
11. Will Thompson
12. Tommy Miller

Controlled Chaos - Alamo Derby, Heat Three

Alamo Derby - San Antonio, TX
Heat Three
Bill Malbrough, Randy Corson, Randy Tondreau, Danny Krol, Ed Smith, Sam Harbin, Will Thompson, Jess Yates, Matt Welliver, Andy Bing, Kenny Rose, John Ruiz

After four minutes of leading a free-for-all on Andy Bing with three hits, the final driver yet to qualify for a final Bill Malbrough took seven hits in the same span with two coming from Harbin and the finishing blow coming from Kenny Rose, and two minutes later Matt Welliver (6th Big Apple Smash Up, tied-7th Texas Nationals) chased after Tondreau before two shots from Jess Yates ended the day of the SidelineStartegy.com Derby winner.

John Ruiz's (9th Arizona Derby, 1st Ides of March, 8th Seattle Derby) twelfth place last week was his first final in eleven rounds and he misses another after struggling through his heat where he stalled, missed a target, and was caught hopelessly off guard by Andy Bing, the first of six shots against him.

Kenny Rose is back to the sidelines after his ninth place finish here as Steven Redden is due back next week, the three-times finalist where he finished twelfth in all of them was one who took it to Bing early on but failed to pick his spots well and take advantage of little attention on his own vehicle from the pack, and Ed Smith (11th Texas Nationals) bounced off of Danny Krol and embedded himself into the barriers.

Jess Yates, blindsided by Bing; Sam Harbin, double-teamed by Corson and Krol while stalled; Will Thompson, another Bing victim after double-tapping him; and then Andy Bing himself, surviving ten hits while delivering eight, including two blindsides, all move through to the consolation heat.

Randy Corson, entering his fifth final and his second in fourteen weeks, suffered a fire midway through the contest, hitting opponents five times either side of the incident that was started by a hit from John Ruiz. Welliver was his target on two occasions early on, then Randy Tondreau was targeted three times late on prior to Corson's elimination at the hands of Krol.

After Corson had blindsided him at the very start, Randy Tondreau would be hit unawares at the very end as Danny Krol went on to claim his third heat victory of the year. Both drivers went back and forth on each other five minutes in and would reunite their rivalry towards the finish. Both men had a missed target at almost the same time and then they both stalled, first Tondreau, then Krol, and then Tondreau again during their finale. In one last coincidence, both drivers qualify for their sixth final, but while Krol enters his first for six weeks, this is Tondreau's third straight appearance.

Race Result
1. Danny Krol
2. Randy Tondreau
3. Randy Corson
4. Andy Bing
5. Will Thompson
6. Sam Harbin
7.  Jess Yates
8. Ed Smith
9. Kenny Rose
10. John Ruiz
11. Will Murphy
12. Bill Malbrough

Controlled Chaos - Alamo Derby, Heat Two

Alamo Derby - San Antonio, TX
Heat Two
Leo May, Scott Hutchins, Phillip Ruffin, Jason Ingle, Tom Gariepy, Timmy Barnes, Will Murphy, Dick Garrett, Bob Alexander, Billy Edgington, Reggie Banks, Darryl Lozier

Heat two began with drama and controversy in the opening seconds as eight-time finalist Jason Ingle (tied-5th Lobster Nationals, 7th Louisiana Invitational) missed his intended target, crashed into the wall and watched the smoke billow from his engine. The most controversial part of the derby, and possibly the season, came when Darryl Lozier crashed into the driver's side of Billy Edgington but there was no disqualification forthcoming and the officials allowed the heat to continue.

Billy Edgington (9th Firecracker Open) clearly felt aggrieved after Lozier's brutality was followed up by a double-tap by Timmy Barnes, two of the seven hits he took, and he was dismissed in eleventh position five minutes in.

Dick Garrett (6th Ides of March, 5th Seattle Derby) suffered a long stall after two hits from Murphy only to re-fire and take one more shot from his adversary, and Leo May (4th Wisconsin Invitational, 4th Idaho Invitational, 2nd Indy Nationals) was all over Timmy Barnes, hitting him three times without a revenge attack, but goes down in ninth place to miss his fourth final in a row, and tenth in thirteen, as Alexander and Banks sandwich him into submission.

Timmy Barnes (12th Spring Fling Derby, 4th Big Apple Smash Up) would go on to miss out on a place in the consolation heat as Tom Gariepy took off where May left, but Scott Hutchins scrapes through to the second chance race as his stall started late enough to be counted out after the elimination of Barnes.

Will Murphy, a big attacker of Garrett earlier in the heat, went on to finish sixth after getting banged around by a pack of four, Bob Alexander leading the way with two hits on him, and both Phillip Ruffin and Tom Gariepy also move into the consolation heat. Ruffin was relentlessly attacking Gariepy, striking him five times, but his final shot disqualified him and took down his opponent.

That means it is a sixth final this year for Bob Alexander, his third in the last seven weeks, after hitting seven cars a total of nine times including the blindside hit on Banks that disabled the latter before a second shot took the pair of them out; Banks qualifying for just his second final with the first a round win in the Firecracker Open.

So, after his controversial reprieve from the race officials and a sudden finish where he started a chain of seven eliminations by finishing off Hutchins, Darryl Lozier wins his fourth heat and goes through to a seventeenth final through twenty-two attempts. His lucky escape on striking Edgington was followed up by another hit on the Brit, then a pair to the vehicle of Leo May with Will Murphy suffering a shot in between. He rode his luck again when he very nearly stalled out in eighth position, but re-fired and, after striking Hutchins, watched the rest of the pack disintegrate in a matter of seconds.

Race Result
1. Darryl Lozier
2. Reggie Banks
2. Bob Alexander
4. Tom Gariepy
5. Phillip Ruffin
6. Will Murphy
7. Scott Hutchins
8. Timmy Barnes
9. Leo May
10. Dick Garrett
11. Billy Edgington
12. Jason Ingle

Controlled Chaos - Alamo Derby, Heat One

Alamo Derby - San Antonio, TX
Heat One
Joe Ramage, Lynne Higgins, Norm Gibson, John McCrory, Charlie Clayton, Ben Hadsell, Tommy Miller, Jamie Eilers, Chris Henton, Darrell Andresen, Ricky Grimes, Bambi Rogers

With a win in Milwaukee last week and a runner-up finish in St Louis two weeks before, Joe Ramage would have been forgiven if he thought his season had turned around from one final in nine weeks to his aforementioned good times. But, it was not to be as he finished dead last in the opening heat here. Only suffering two hits again, Ramage (1st Valentine's Day Massacre) did not help his cause by casually striking Miller and Higgins, bringing about a lot of damage to his own vehicle.

Since becoming champion of both the Summer Sizzler and Summer National Derby, Jamie EIlers has finished fourth (Louisiana Invitational), eighth (Arkansas Derby) and sixth (Bryen Family Open) but stalling out in San Antonio means he misses a fourth final in the last seven weeks, and Bambi Rogers (6th Arkansas, 11th Bryan) fails to make it three in a row as a hit to the blindside was the first of two shots from Ricky Grimes that finished her off.

Lynne Higgins (4th Arkansas) was right behind in ninth place after taking five shots, becoming stuck on the barriers and waiting for Grimes to get involved again to finish the job, and Norm Gibson (1st Lobster Nationals, 1st Texas Nationals) misses his second final in four on a tag-team sequence from Grimes and Hadsell.

Tommy Miller has a taste of the final now despite finishing thirteenth in last week's contest, but to repeat he will have to go through the consolation heat along with Ricky Grimes, John McCrory and Ben Hadsell. Out of this group it was McCrory who had the biggest adventure as Hadsell was inches away from destroying him, and he was shoved into the driver's side door of Grimes to earn a tough DQ.

Charlie Clayton reaches his seventh final of the year, a first in five rounds, after he raged on McCrory with three hits, battled with Hadsell and was ultimately dumped by Darrell Andresen who caught his opponent unawares.

Andresen would be unstoppable in the end with Chris Henton, finishing second as another blindside victim of the heat winner, making his way into a eighth final and third in a row. Henton was crushed hard by that surprise hit but he continued and tried to pass the pain on to McCrory who barely evaded a full speed collision that would have surely left at least one of the vehicles involved crippled.

It's a sixth heat win for Andresen and he improves his final streak to five for an eleventh appearance this season. His path was one of variety, laying eight hits on seven cars, but his day started on the wrong foot as Ben Hadsell caught him on the hop and nudged him hard from behind before shaking loose the cobwebs and taking two points for the win.

Race Result
1. Darrell Andresen
2. Chris Henton
3. Charlie Clayton
4. Ben Hadsell
5. John McCrory
6. Ricky Grimes
7. Tommy Miller
8. Norm Gibson
9. Lynne Higgins
10. Bambi Rogers
11. Jamie Eilers
12. Joe Ramage

Controlled Chaos - Alamo Derby Preview

The drivers who finished first and third at last week's Byran Family Open are together in the first heat of event twenty-two. Joe Ramage won his second event of the year while Norm Gibson took his sixth podium finish this season, and both men will go against double event winner Jamie Eilers and one-time champ Ben Hadsell.

Darryl Lozier continues to search for the form he enjoyed earlier in the season as he enters the event in San Antonio, Texas, with no wins in ten weeks and a best result of fourth place in that span. The good news for him is that the fourth place finish came in this state at the Teas Nationals. Joining him in heat two are Scott Hutchins who has two finals, both third place finishes, in the last seven rounds; Tom Gariepy who won the Arkansas Derby a fortnight ago; and Will Murphy who hangs in the top ten despite just one final appearance, sixth at the Firecracker Open, in the past nine weeks.

Finally, the current occupier of second spot in the standings goes in heat three as Will Thompson, fresh off his runner-up place in Milwaukee, looks to keep the pressure on Lozier at the top. His main rival here will be Andy Bing who has missed three of the last six finals and has finished outside of the points in two of those he did qualify for.